Digitalis purpurea, foxglove
Was this purple foxglove intentionally planted against the orange lichen-encrusted wall? The effect of having all three of the secondary colours adjacent to one another is pleasing to me, whether it is by design or not.
The “friend or foe” Digitalis purpurea makes its second appearance on BPotD. For details on its medicinal and poisonous properties, please (re)visit that entry.
Purple foxglove is a biennial or short-lived perennial native to much of Europe, although it has naturalized in other temperate regions. The biennial life-cycle is often split into two phases (and this is true for Digitalis purpurea). After germination, growth in year one tends to be allocated to securing the space and nutrients needed for the next year; for purple foxglove and many other biennials, this is done by growing a series of concentric leaves with little stem length between the leaves. The effect is a basal rosette of leaves, which seems to both suppress any germination by competitors underneath its “canopy” and efficiently capture the immediately-available light resources. Second-year growth is more dedicated to reproduction. This is typically the development and growth of an upright stem bearing many flowers (and in many biennials, additional leaves). In the case of purple foxglove, this upright stem can be over 2m (6 ft.) in height. Seed production on an individual plant will number in the thousands.
Lovely photo Daniel.
Completely about the colors. Such a striking image!
Ok, that SHOULD have read “completely agree about the colors”
I really like the color combo too!
Thank you for all that you share.
Best regards from North Idaho
Merry Christmas Daniel. Thanks for all of your lovely entries. Sincerely. Silvina
Lovely juxtaposition of color and texture. And great explanation of the biennial strategy. Thank you for all you do!
That IS a great photograph as others have remarked before me.
Thanks so much for spotting such a nice contrast.
All the best for the Christmas Season and Best Wishes for greater successes in 2019.
Great color combination Daniel, particularly with the dark sides, I love it. Have a wonderful Christmas and all the best for the New Year with more beautiful photos in 2019!
Wonderful, beautiful, cannot wait for 2019.
Just a quick note working seasonally at a grocery store garden centre . This plant is placed in the perennial section.Clients fall in love with the lovely blooms and will still buy the plant even after they are told it is a
Thank you for this nice picture. Usually, resources are also allocated to a storage underground organ (often root) during the first year of a biennial, such as carrot. Is this also the case in Digitalis purpurea?
Best regards,
Christine
I’ve noticed watching biennial Oenothera elata in my yard for 19 years, that when the second phase starts, the height increase is primarily from greatly increasing the existing “little stem length between the leaves.” Is this the same for Digitalis?
On a related note, I have an O. elata in my yard right now that’s into it’s second year of *flowering*; the plant sprouted ~3 years ago!
I’m all for the placement of the flower – dead center – and the simplicity of the image. That the colors are secondaries may be the icing on the cake. To people in places where it grows happily and becomes a common sight, I don’t think it’s easy to photograph – one has just seen it SO many times. But you triumphed with this new look at an old friend. Have a great holiday, Daniel, and a Happy New Year!!
I have four small plants of these. Will find out what colors they turn out to be in the Spring!
Beautiful photo! Thank you for all the interesting photos and information this past year Daniel.
Wishing you good health and happiness in 2019!!
hm, i think the ability to suppress germination of other seeds below the leaves does not quite function as well as I would like it to: chickweed germinates under there like crazy!! Sadly.